Verdict:

4.7k / 4.7k voltage dividers: Moderate reduction in pops.

Double the 4.7k's up in parallel to get:
2.33k / 2.33k voltage dividers: Significant reduction in pops but not completely gone.

I am hoping that going to straight 2k resistors, with a slight board redesign so that the I2S trace runs are shorter, will fix it for good.

What components should I be checking inside the empeg to see if they are getting too hot with the new changes and the increase in I2S current?

Thank you so much!